Edible
Plants List

Compiled
by Melissa Kaplan, 1996, 2001

The following list of
plants has been compiled from a wide variety of sources as being safely
edible, at least in small amounts, by reptiles. The best source for identifying
weeds and finding out if they are safe or not is to get one of the many
field guides to edible plants such as Thomas S. Elias and Peter A. Dykeman's
Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide (Sterling Publishing
Co., Inc., New York, NY. 266 p. ISBN 0-8069-7488-5). Many junior colleges
and university extension programs, and some parks departments and nature
centers, offer short courses or day-hike series by naturalists or botanists
that explore the edible wild plants growing in your area. Taking such
a course can be invaluable if you have trouble translating the photos
and text descriptions from books into what you see growing around you.

Keep in mind that even
if you do not use pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers in your yard,
if your neighbors do, or their neighbors do, some is bound to end
up in your yard. Many plants purchased from nurseries and stores have
been treated with topical pesticides, herbicides and the soils with fertilizers.
They should be washed and repotted before using. Plants,
Pesticides, and Herps discusses this a bit. You also might want to
think twice about feeding cut flowers you buy from florists in case they
have been sprayed or stored in something that may not agree with reptilian
constitutions.

Also keep in mind that,
as with lists of toxic plants, no listing of edible plants will ever be
complete. It is for that reason that you will find links to other plant
sites for you to use if you do not find the plant you are looking for
on the toxic, harmful or edible lists at my site.

Another important point
to keep in mind: Just because a little bit is okay, a lot may not be,
so always feed edible ornamentals in moderation and watch your pet carefully
for any signs that the plant has disagreed with it. Possible signs include
decreased or increased activity, increased salivation, mouth or face rubbing,
diarrhea or other change in feces and urates, changes in respiration rate,
labored breathing, rapid weight loss, increase water consumption. If any
of these changes are observed, get your reptile to a reptile vet and be
sure to let her or him know what your reptile has or may have been eating
and if there is a possibility of chemical contamination of the plant.

Anytime you are talking
about an ornamental or other plant that is not commonly eaten by humans
or farm animals, all bets are off when it comes to short- and long-term
safety. While we may know - grossly - that a plant is not outright toxic
(kills the consumer within a short period of time after ingestion), that
doesn't mean that it is completely benign. The reason why plants that
don't kill outright eventually appear on toxic lists is because some vet
or researcher somewhere got intrigued by what he or she saw in their practice
and figured out that certain plants cause certain reactions in some or
potentially all species. Because there are so many variables on the individual
level (animal size, how much it already age of its usual diet, core body
temperature, how much it has had to drink, the age of the plant eaten,
the season of year the plant was eaten, the plant part eaten, how healthy
the animal is, whether there is already some liver or other organ dysfunction,
etc.), as well as at the species level and between individuals within
a population of a species, there are no absolutes or certainties. So,
save "safe" plants for occasional treats in small amounts, rather
than feeding them daily or in large amounts.

Another source for
information on edible plants is the Plants
for a Future website, where you can access the UK
database or the US
mirror site.

KUDZU (Pueraria
phaseoloides, P. thunbergiana, Fanko Puero): edible by humans,
goats and cows; uncertain at this time of potentially harmful phytocompounds
which may prohibit or limit intake. If fed, do so sparingly and observe
effects

MAPLE (Acer
sp.): leaves have been eaten with no apparent consequencea